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Conewago Twp.'s Peanut Drive to be surveyed

Supervisors moved forward with the first step of the reconstruction plan.

By MELODY ASPER

For The Evening Sun

Posted:
03/02/2013 09:44:02 PM EST

A narrow and potholed Conewago Township street is being targeted for reconstruction, to the delight of area residents who have complained about the road for years.

At a recent township meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved starting the initial survey for the reconstruction of Peanut Drive, as recommended by township engineer Eric Mains.

Peanut Drive reconstruction is included as part of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank loan application the township submitted in 2012, said township manager Marcy Hagarman.

Hagarman said that Peanut Drive is planned to be reconstructed in multiple phases over several years upon approval of the loan, but that the loan approval can take several months.

The approved survey of the mile-long road will help to establish a cost estimate for reconstruction, she said.

Mains said that using a phase approach allows the township to develop project specifications that can be divided up so that if any specific phase costs too much it could be held off for a time or rebid if necessary.

The Peanut Drive project is one of many on Conewago Township's long-range schedule for road reconstruction and maintenance.

Repairs for Peanut Drive, Wetzel Drive, Providence Drive and Sunday Drive are slated for the plan's first phase.

At the same time, the supervisors also approved applying for a $700,000 loan at 1.6 percent interest from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank.

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Getting a lump-sum loan will make it easier to do all the needed work within the next three years, said Supervisor Ted Bortner.

Borrowing the funds to get the roadwork done in a large chunk, he said, will be a better option than trying to save enough each year to do just one project.

"With the loan, we will be getting projects done that need done now," Bortner said at the September meeting. "It will allow us to complete the most needy roads that are in our five-year plan."

Township secretary/treasurer Keith Whittaker said the township would be able to repay the loan and have money left over for regular road maintenance, with the $150,000 per year it receives from the state's liquid fuels funds for road repair.

Getting the loan would allow the township to completely reconstruct Peanut Drive over a two-year period, Bortner said, with the work to begin in 2013 and finished in 2014.

The schedule would also see Providence Drive reconstructed in 2014, and Sunday Drive to be completed in 2015, said Bortner.

Road reconstruction has been a hot topic in Conewago for more than two years as residents have brought many complaints about deteriorating roads to supervisors meetings.

Peanut Drive has seen the majority of the complaints as many residents allege the street to be a disaster.

Through much of 2011, Peanut Drive was being used as a bypass due to the sinkhole problems that closed Oak Drive and Oxford Avenue during stretches of that year.

Both roads were closed for several months, and township residents complained that large trucks from the nearby quarry were making the already potholed Peanut Drive even worse.

Some of the worst potholes on Peanut Drive were given temporary fixes last year and again within the last few months, said the supervisors, but the entire road will see major reconstruction and widening with the new project.

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